Who Killed Creativity?: ...And How Do We Get It Back?

Chapter 4: Why save creativity?

Emergency response

A new rescue squad is being trained to deal with critical emergency situations. Perhaps the most unlikely of saviours, the knights in shining armour we are about to describe are not chosen for their physical strength or expert medical knowledge. They are painstakingly trained but will never set foot in the training room. Dispatched to the most dangerous of scenarios, these rescue squads have very high rates of success, yet they are not receiving the bravery awards or recognition you would think they deserve.

The rescue squad is, in fact, a team of furry rodents, a miniature army of rat risk-takers ready to step out into the unknown and sniff out danger. Trained by psychologist Alan Poling, the rats are helping to deal with two major, very different problems in the developing world — land mines and tuberculosis. More than 25 000 people a year are killed or maimed by landmines, which are considered one of the leading sources of suffering in the developing world. In Mozambique, for example, where land mines are still a major problem after a 16-year civil war, the livelihoods of thousands of civilians are threatened. If the people return to the land that is seeded with mines, they risk losing a limb, but if they cannot grow food on the land they risk starvation. After eight months of meticulous lab training, African pouched rats, which have a very keen sense of smell, have been taught to detect mines in the field with 100 per cent ...